Letters From Auschwitz

Inspired by the true story of the great Italian writer and Holocaust survivor Primo Levi, Letters From Auschwitz offers a moving, historically grounded portrait of two young lives divided by war yet united by courage.

As teenagers, Primo and Bianca meet during a mountain hike outside Turin and form a deep, inseparable bond—sharing laughter, secrets, and the bright hopes of youth. But with the German occupation and the enforcement of the racial laws, the world they know collapses, and the difference between them suddenly becomes a sea of danger.

Primo Levi, Jewish, is arrested and deported on a transport to Auschwitz. In the camp’s freezing barracks he confronts hunger, exhaustion, and relentless brutality, drawing on the power of observation and memory to hold on to his humanity. Bianca Guidetti Serra, who will later become one of Italy’s most respected lawyers and anti-fascist voices, remains in Turin and joins the Resistance. Under the code name “Nerina,” she races through the bomb-torn city carrying secret orders, risking her life with every mission.

Though separated by distance, danger, and the machinery of war, their connection endures. Hidden notes, coded messages, and fragile scraps of paper—carried by couriers, slipped through cracks, entrusted to the wind—become their form of resistance, their lifeline, and their shared act of defiance.

Told through intertwined narratives, Letters from Auschwitz reveals the parallel destinies of two extraordinary young people forced to grow up too quickly and endure unimaginable trials. Their voices merge with those of countless others who, from behind the barred windows of deportation trains, left messages of love, hope, and farewell—fragments of memory that still reach us today.

A poignant and deeply human story about resilience, friendship, and the silent strength of remembrance, Letters from Auschwitz brings new emotional depth to the lives of Primo Levi and Bianca Guidetti Serra and illuminates the power of hope in history’s darkest hours.